IMPD advice: loud mufflers

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  • Cameramonkey

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    I have a lady in our neighborhood group complaining about her neighbor who leaves for work at 3:30-4am in a car without a muffler and it wakes her up almost every time. I didnt think there was anything on the books about loud exhaust in IN/Marion county. Another person is claiming there is a ticketable ordinance, but cant back it up.

    So INGO IMPDers, true or false? Anything she can do? (she has already talked to him and he refuses to fix it)

    And I feel her pain. I too have a new neighbor that sometimes leaves before 5 and/or arrives home after 11. It has a muffler but its a rice rocket with a loud aftermarket unit. And to make matters worse its a stick and the boy just doesnt quite know how to drive a stick well. He uses a LOT of clutch/gas manipulation to get it into his sloped driveway. :rolleyes:
     

    BehindBlueI's

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    CHAPTER 8. MUFFLERS AND NOISE LIMITS :: ARTICLE 19. MOTOR VEHICLE EQUIPMENT :: TITLE 9. MOTOR VEHICLES :: 2006 Indiana Code :: Indiana Code :: US Codes and Statutes :: US Law :: Justia

    [FONT=&quot]IC 9-19-8-2
    Muffler leaks, alteration, or deterioration
    Sec. 2. A motor vehicle must be equipped with a muffler free from the following visually discernible conditions:
    (1) Exhaust gas leaks.
    (2) Alteration of muffler elements.
    (3) Deterioration of muffler elements.
    As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7.
    [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]IC 9-19-8-3
    Operation of muffler or noise dissipative device
    Sec. 3. A motor vehicle must be equipped with a muffler or other noise dissipative device that meets the following conditions:
    (1) Is in good working order.
    (2) Is in constant operation to prevent excessive noise.
    As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7.
    [/FONT]
     

    NyleRN

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    CHAPTER 8. MUFFLERS AND NOISE LIMITS :: ARTICLE 19. MOTOR VEHICLE EQUIPMENT :: TITLE 9. MOTOR VEHICLES :: 2006 Indiana Code :: Indiana Code :: US Codes and Statutes :: US Law :: Justia

    [FONT=&quot]IC 9-19-8-2
    Muffler leaks, alteration, or deterioration
    Sec. 2. A motor vehicle must be equipped with a muffler free from the following visually discernible conditions:
    (1) Exhaust gas leaks.
    (2) Alteration of muffler elements.
    (3) Deterioration of muffler elements.
    As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7.
    [/FONT]

    [FONT=&quot]IC 9-19-8-3
    Operation of muffler or noise dissipative device
    Sec. 3. A motor vehicle must be equipped with a muffler or other noise dissipative device that meets the following conditions:
    (1) Is in good working order.
    (2) Is in constant operation to prevent excessive noise.
    As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.7.
    [/FONT]

    I know you're not a laywer but how do you define "excessive noise" in order to issue a citation
     

    BehindBlueI's

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    I know you're not a laywer but how do you define "excessive noise" in order to issue a citation

    I think you'd have to fall to the "reasonable person" test. I've written the excessive smoke/fumes when I couldn't see through the cloud, but don't think I ever wrote the excessive noise.
     

    Gluemanz28

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    A friend of mine many years ago had a sweet sounding Mustang. He received a ticket for loud exhaust and was going to fight it. He was ripping down on engine at a stoplight when a Camaro was next to him. He was too busy trying to intimidate the Camaro to notice the cop behind him.

    My buddy appeared in court and said his exhaust was legal so the judge told him to take it to the police station and have a sound test performed on the vehicle and if it passed he would drop the ticket.

    My buddy paid for the ticket before leaving the courthouse.

    I would have to believe that a decibel meter would be easily accessible by any Police Dept.
     

    Cameramonkey

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    Dont get me wrong, the Libertarian in my says "let them have it". But then the old adage "fist swing/nose, etc" comes into play. I dont mind if you have a muscle car or rice rocket. (or shooting range, or fireworks display, etc) Just dont be a douche and wake the neighbors with it at unreasonable times.
     

    BehindBlueI's

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    Would you write it at 3am in a residential neighborhood?

    Depends on how loud. If there were complaints and it really was inordinately loud, I'd write a warning and let him know I'd be paying attention if he got it fixed or not. If it escalated from there would be up to them.
     

    yepthatsme

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    I'll put up with a loud exhaust system any day rather than put up with a loud, bass thumping sound system with rap music. It drives me nuts when someone with a bass thumping sound system pulls into a gas station, leaves their doors open with the sound system cranked. I'm always tempted to walk over with a pair of wire cutters and help them out with their noise problem.
     

    Frank_N_Stein

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    I'll put up with a loud exhaust system any day rather than put up with a loud, bass thumping sound system with rap music. It drives me nuts when someone with a bass thumping sound system pulls into a gas station, leaves their doors open with the sound system cranked. I'm always tempted to walk over with a pair of wire cutters and help them out with their noise problem.

    I called the gas station across from my house and asked the clerk to put the driver of the (whatever car it was) on the phone. When she did, I mother****ed him and told him to turn his **** music down because no one wanted to hear it.
     

    DoggyDaddy

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    I'll put up with a loud exhaust system any day rather than put up with a loud, bass thumping sound system with rap music. It drives me nuts when someone with a bass thumping sound system pulls into a gas station, leaves their doors open with the sound system cranked. I'm always tempted to walk over with a pair of wire cutters and help them out with their noise problem.

    This bugs me too. And they don't even have to have their doors or windows open. I'm not sure why anyone would think it's good to have their sound system so loud that it makes their hoopty "buzz" and rattle.
     

    Leo

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    In the days when my common exhaust system was a pair of flanged cherry bombs bolted to the headers, I was chosen to make several donations to the city via the court system. Since they only made noise when I was moving, I would think my exhaust system was less annoying than the sound systems in a lot of cars. They make serious sound pressure and often are slow rolling past my house or setting parked two doors down. I am told that the sound systems are not enforceable. Surely ticketing a parked car that you can hear for 100 yards away is easier than catching a kid in a moving Chevy.
     

    igotdiesel2

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    I think you'd have to fall to the "reasonable person" test. I've written the excessive smoke/fumes when I couldn't see through the cloud, but don't think I ever wrote the excessive noise.

    As a diesel truck owner and lover I have never understood the "black smoke" thing. It is crazy hard on the motor when they do that.

    I have a diesel truck, I absolutely hate starting in up on the cold mornings in my neighborhood because of the way it sounds when it first starts. My truck sits close to my neighbors bedroom window and they are in their 70's. Odd thing is I've asked them about it and they have told me they never hear it, so that makes me feel better. -Jason
     

    spec4

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    I wonder about anybody who pays money to make their vehicle obnoxious to others. I do like the idea that the loud sound systems will make their owners deaf before their time.
     
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